Frontiers of
Materials Research
A Decadal Survey
Committee on Frontiers of Materials Research: A Decadal Survey
National Materials and Manufacturing Board
Board on Physics and Astronomy
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. DMR-1647113 from National Science Foundation and Contract No. DE-SC0016257 from Department of Energy. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-48387-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-48387-5
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25244
Cover: Materials research is a never-ending quest. A snapshot in time of the frontiers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow is explored in this decadal survey. As each sphere of understanding is scaled back and understood, a universe of spheres still remains to be explored. Graphic Artist: Erik Svedberg.
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Frontiers of Materials Research: A Decadal Survey. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25244.
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COMMITTEE ON FRONTIERS OF MATERIALS RESEARCH: A DECADAL SURVEY
LAURA H. GREENE, NAS,1 National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Florida State University, Co-Chair
TOM LUBENSKY, NAS, University of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair
MATTHEW V. TIRRELL, NAS/NAE,2 University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, Co-Chair
PAUL M. CHAIKIN, NAS, New York University
HONG DING, Beijing National Laboratory
KATHERINE T. FABER, California Institute of Technology
PAULA T. HAMMOND, NAS/NAE/NAM,3 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
CHRISTINE E. HECKLE, Corning, Inc.
KEVIN J. HEMKER, Johns Hopkins University
JOSEPH P. HEREMANS, NAE, Ohio State University
BARBARA A. JONES, IBM Almaden Research Center
NADYA MASON, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
THOMAS MASON, Battelle Memorial Institute
TALAT SHAHNAZ RAHMAN, University of Central Florida
ELSA REICHMANIS, NAE, Georgia Institute of Technology
JOHN L. SARRAO, Los Alamos National Laboratory
SUSAN B. SINNOTT, Pennsylvania State University
SUSANNE STEMMER, University of California, Santa Barbara
SAMUEL I. STUPP, NAE, Northwestern University
TIA BENSON TOLLE, Boeing
MARK L. WEAVER, University of Alabama
TODD YOUNKIN, Intel Assignee at SRC
STEVEN J. ZINKLE, NAE, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Staff
ERIK SVEDBERG, Study Director
JAMES LANCASTER, Director, National Materials and Manufacturing Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy
NEERAJ P. GORKHALY, Associate Program Officer
HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Financial Associate
LINDA WALKER, Program Coordinator
HENRY KO, Research Associate (through January 18, 2019)
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
2 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
3 Member, National Academy of Medicine.
NATIONAL MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING BOARD
BEN WANG, Georgia Institute of Technology, Chair
RODNEY C. ADKINS, NAE, IBM Corporate Strategy (retired)
CRAIG ARNOLD, Princeton University
JIM C.I. CHANG, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
THOMAS M. DONNELLAN, Applied Research Laboratory
STEPHEN FORREST, NAS/NAE, University of Michigan
ERICA FUCHS, Carnegie Mellon University
THERESA KOTANCHEK, Evolved Analytics, LLC
DAVID LARBALESTIER, NAE, Florida State University
MICK MAHER, Maher & Associates, LLC
ROBERT MILLER, NAE, IBM Almaden Research Center
EDWARD MORRIS, Consequence Consulting, LLC
NICHOLAS A. PEPPAS, NAE/NAM, University of Texas, Austin
TRESA M. POLLOCK, NAE, University of California, Santa Barbara
GREGORY TASSEY, University of Washington
HAYDN WADLEY, University of Virginia
STEVEN J. ZINKLE, NAE, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Staff
JAMES LANCASTER, Director
ERIK SVEDBERG, Senior Program Officer
NEERAJ P. GORKHALY, Associate Program Officer
HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Financial Associate
JOSEPH PALMER, Senior Project Assistant
HENRY KO, Research Associate (through January 18, 2019)
BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
BARBARA JACAK, NAS, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Chair
ABRAHAM LOEB, Harvard University, Vice Chair
LOUIS DIMAURO, The Ohio State University
FRANCIS DISALVO, NAS, Cornell University
NATHANIEL FISCH, Princeton University
DANIEL FISHER, Stanford University
WENDY FREEDMAN, NAS, University of Chicago
TIM HECKMAN, NAS, Johns Hopkins University
WENDELL HILL III, University of Maryland
ALAN HURD, Los Alamos National Laboratory
BARBARA A. JONES, IBM Almaden Research Center
ANDREW LANKFORD, University of California, Irvine
NERGIS MAVALVALA, NAS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
LYMAN PAGE, JR., NAS, Princeton University
STEVEN RITZ, University of California, Santa Cruz
Staff
JAMES LANCASTER, Director
DONALD SHAPIRO, Senior Scholar
CHRISTOPHER JONES, Program Officer
NEERAJ P. GORKHALY, Associate Program Officer
HENRY KO, Research Associate
LINDA WALKER, Program Coordinator
BETH DOLAN, Financial Associate
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Preface
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine perform an in-depth and broad study that will articulate the status and promising future directions of materials research (MR) in the United States in the context of similar efforts worldwide. This is the second major survey of the broad area of MR; the first was published in 1990 (Materials Science and Engineering for the 1990s: Maintaining Competitiveness in the Age of Materials). In 2010, a focused study (Condensed-Matter and Materials Physics: The Science of the World Around Us) was published.
Included in the statement of task for this assessment is that MR will be considered broadly in terms of material type, forms/structure, property, and phenomenon, as well as the full breadth of approaches to MR (e.g., experiment, theory, computation, modeling and simulation, instrument/technique development, synthesis, characterization, etc.). In particular, the report will
- Assess the progress and achievements in MR over the past decade;
- Identify the principal changes in the research and development landscape for MR in the United States and internationally over the past decade, and how those changes have impacted MR;
- Identify MR areas that offer promising investment opportunities and new directions for the period 2020-2030 or have major scientific gaps;
- Identify fields in MR that may be good candidates for transition to support by other disciplines, applied research and development (R&D) sponsors, or industry;
- Identify the broad impacts that MR has had and is expected to have on emerging technologies, national needs, and science;
- Identify challenges that MR may face over the next decade and offer guidance to the materials research community for addressing those challenges; and
- Evaluate recent trends in investments in MR in the United States relative to similar research that is taking place internationally by using a limited number of case studies of representative areas of MR that either have experienced significant recent growth or are anticipated to see significant near-term growth, and based on those trends, recommend steps that the United States might take either to secure leadership or to enhance collaboration and coordination of such research support, where appropriate, for identified subfields of MR.
In addition to the five full committee meetings, the committee will engage in extensive data gathering. Data gathering for the project will consist of
- A review of relevant published literature;
- Invited presenters at the committee’s public meetings;
- Sustained engagement with the materials research communities; and
- If the committee decides, commissioned papers.
The project will conduct a review of the literature related to aspects of the issues to be addressed by the project, which will include previous work (such as seminal reports) done in the past decade by other not-for-profits, societies, and foreign entities.
The project will engage in sustained efforts to solicit broad input from relevant communities. These outreach efforts will include sessions at geographically dispersed locations across the United States, and may include town halls, professional meetings, solicitation of white papers, and aggressive use of electronic communications and networks.
The committee closely followed the statement of task, with the following small deviations:
- In the fourth list item, it was interpreted that “transition” cannot simply be a handoff, as even if a fundamental discovery appears ready for other disciplines or applications, communication back to the bench is required for successful implementation—especially as processes become more complex.
- Workforce empowerment is not in the statement task, but research by the committee and a great deal of input from the community indicated that it must be mentioned.
- MR and economics are, by nature, intertwined. The committee decided that addressing economic policy is beyond its scope, and so the topic is not addressed here.
During the course of the study, the committee came into agreement that MR in the United States is at a precipice—there have been extraordinary advances in materials growth, measurement, and computation, both separately and in coordinated collaborations at universities, in national laboratories, and in industry, across nearly all fields of MR. Many breakthroughs are reported here, many are directly predicted, and many are as yet unforeseen, which will have tremendous effect on our understanding, and significant impact on our daily lives, globally. If the United States does not maintain its position as a world leader in MR, it risks not being a significant player.
Finally, a disclaimer: The statement of task was extremely broad, and the committee could not cover every aspect of MR, from the most fundamental to the most disruptive manufacturing, without leaving important and even crucial areas of MR out of the report, or providing only brief mention. This does not indicate that the committee felt these areas were less important or crucial.
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Acknowledgments
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
___________________
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering.
2 Member, National Academy of Sciences.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by David W. Johnson, Jr., NAE, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, and Celia I. Merzbacher, Office of Institutional Planning, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
The committee also thanks the following guest speakers and panelists at its meetings, who added to the members’ understanding of the frontiers of materials research:
___________________
3 Member, National Academy of Medicine.
The committee gratefully acknowledges information provided by the following experts from the materials research community:
Every member of the committee made heroic efforts to complete this daunting task. Erik Svedberg provided guidance and management, and we also appreciate similar support from Jim Lancaster. We thank the outside speakers listed and are grateful for the input from the entire community.
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Contents
1 BRIEF SURVEY OF DEVELOPMENTS OVER THE DECADE
1.2 Defense and National Security Perspectives
1.4 Key Findings and Recommendations
2 PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN MATERIALS RESEARCH OVER THE PAST DECADE
2.2 Ceramics, Glasses, Composites, and Hybrid Materials
2.3 Semiconductors and Other Electronic Materials
2.3.1 Materials and Devices for Information Technology
2.3.2 Continued Miniaturization of Silicon-Based Field-Effect Devices
2.3.3 Alternative Solutions to Address the Bottlenecks in Field-Effect Transistors
2.3.4 Semiconductors for Optoelectronics
2.4 Quantum Materials and Strongly Correlated Systems
2.4.1 Superconductors and Strongly Correlated Electrons
2.4.3 Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials
2.4.5 Qubits—The Building Blocks for Quantum Computers
2.5 Polymers, Biomaterials, and Other Soft Matter
2.5.2 Biomolecular and Bio-Inspired Materials
3 MATERIALS RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
3.1.1 Fundamental Studies of Classical Metals and Alloys
3.1.3 Nanostructured Metallic Alloys
3.2 Ceramics, Glasses, Composites, and Hybrid Materials
3.2.2 Composites and Hybrid Materials
3.3 Semiconductors and Other Electronic Materials
3.3.1 Device Miniaturization and Advances Beyond Miniaturization
3.3.2 Multifunctional Devices and the Internet of Things
3.3.3 Next-Generation Semiconductors for RF and Power Electronics
3.3.4 Interconnects and Packaging
3.5 Polymers, Biomaterials, and Other Soft Matter
3.5.2 Biomaterials and Bio-Inspired Materials
3.5.3 Soft Matter and Granular Materials
3.6 Architected and Metamaterials
3.6.2 Metamaterials for Photonics, Phononics, and Plasmonics
3.7 Materials for Energy, Catalysis, and Extreme Environments
3.7.3 Materials for Extreme Environments
3.8 Materials Research in Water, Sustainability, and Clean Technologies
3.9 Materials to Move, Store, Pump, and Manage Heat
3.9.2 Solid-State Thermal Energy Conversion
3.9.3 Active Thermal Devices, Rectifiers, and Switches
3.9.4 Thermal Barrier Coatings
3.10 Findings and Recommendations
4 RESEARCH TOOLS, METHODS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND FACILITIES
4.1.3 Scanning Probe Microscopies
4.1.4 Time-Resolved, Especially Ultrafast Methods
4.1.5 3D/4D Measurements, Including In Situ Methods
4.2 Synthesis and Processing Tools
4.2.2 3D Structures from DNA Building Blocks
4.2.3 2D Shape-Changing Materials
4.2.5 Cold Gas Dynamic Spraying
4.2.6 Nonequilibrium Processing
4.3 Simulation and Computation Tools
4.3.1 Integrated Computational Materials Engineering and Materials Genome Initiatives
4.3.4 Quantum Computing as a Computational Materials Tool
4.3.5 Materials Databases: Achievements, Promise, and Challenges
4.4 Integration of Synthesis, Characterization, and Modeling
4.4.1 High-Throughput Screening
4.4.2 Predictive Experimental Materials Design and Combined Experimental/Computational Analysis
4.5 Infrastructure and Facilities
4.5.2 General Laboratory Infrastructure
4.5.3 Midscale Instrumentation/Facilities
4.5.4 Nanoscale Science Research Centers
4.5.7 High Magnetic Field Facilities
4.5.8 Advanced Computational Facilities
4.6 Conclusion, Findings, and Recommendations
5.3.1 Case 1—Flat Panel Liquid Crystal Displays
5.3.2 Case 2—Additive Manufacturing in Aerospace
5.3.3 Case 3—Permanent Magnets on the World Market
5.3.5 Case 5—Lithium-Ion Batteries